Impeachment over; poll drive begins
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2020 06:09:52 +0000
SOMETIME this week, probably Wednesday, the United States Senate will end the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump with a vote clearing him of all the charges.
After two months of hearings in the House of Representatives, followed by 18 days of trial in the Senate, Trump expects acquittal at the voting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday (4 a.m., Thursday, in Manila).
President Trump was accused of (1) abusing his powers to make Ukraine announce an investigation of corruption charges against potential election rival Joe Biden of the Democratic Party and (2) obstructing the House investigation by banning officials from testifying and official documents from being released.
Last Friday, the Senate voted against hearing new witnesses for the Senate trial – 51 Republicans against 45 Democrats joined by two independents and two Republicans. With no further witnesses, the Senate will proceed to final vote on the impeachment charges on Wednesday.
Acquittal by the Republican Party-dominated Senate is a foregone conclusion; it was expected from the beginning. For that is the nature of impeachment, a process that is also part of our government system of checks and balances in the Philippines. Political parties have tended to give their party member sitting in the White House great leeway in his presidential decisions and actions.
The Republicans believe the charges, even if true, are not sufficient to remove President Trump from office. It will be best, they say, for the American people to make that decision in the coming election.
The impeachment case will be only one of several issues on the line in November. Voters will also be judging President Trump on his many other decisions and actions, such as the trade war he initiated against China some two years ago, his anti-immigration policies and his perceive
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